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Animal World
Green Sea Turtle — photograph 1
📷 Wikimedia Commons · Free License
IUCN: Endangered

Green Sea Turtle

Chelonia mydas

KingdomAnimalia›PhylumChordata›ClassReptilia›OrderTestudines›FamilyCheloniidae›GenusChelonia
About

The green sea turtle, also known as the green turtle, black sea turtle, and Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus Chelonia.

Its range extends throughout tropical and subtropical seas around the world, with two distinct populations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, but it is also found in the Indian Ocean. The common name refers to the usually green fat found beneath its carapace, due to its diet strictly being seagrass, not to the color of its carapace, which is olive to black.

Key Facts
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Habitat
Tropical and subtropical coastal waters
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Diet
Primarily seagrasses and algae (adults); invertebrates (juveniles)
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Size & Weight
Shell 80–100 cm; weight 68–190 kg
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Lifespan
60–70 years
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Range
Worldwide tropical and subtropical oceans
ReptileSea Turtle
Photo Credits
#1Wikimedia Commons · Free License
#2MasterfulNerd · CC BY-SA 4.0
#3AmyAbroad · CC BY-SA 4.0
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